NACHTS WENN
DU SCHLAFEN GEHST("At Night When You Go To Sleep")
A film by Werner Kubny

Edited by: Rheinhard
Wulf and Enno Hungerland (WDR/3 Sat)

A music documentary
of a very special sort: with jazz drummer Ernst Bier, the film dives
into the night world of a music that since the time of Charlie Parker
and the other bebop revolutionaries has "told life's story" (M.
L. King). Ernst Bier, who lives in New York, Berlin, and Cologne,
is like so many jazz musicians: his life revolves around the music
.

"Nachts
wenn du schlafen gehst" (Cover)

The inner necessity
of playing jazz is both a calling and an act of fate. The jazz musician's
family is composed of the players who spend their time in jazz clubs,
recording studios, practice rooms, and festivals. As a rule they
have a deep understanding of their field; they will not blindly
submit to the general conception of what the music is about. For
them, the artistic expression - the projection of ideas and feelings
- is so worth striving for that they are willing to forgo what others
consider as important in order to devote themselves to the essentials
of their music.

Stylishly shot
in black and white, this film not only conveys the art and atmosphere
of jazz in concert (as indeed has been the intention of most jazz
films since the 1940's); with its portrayal of an intensive musical
lifestyle, the film carries the viewer into a seldom-documented
world. A film with Ernst Bier, Mack Goldsbury, Ed Schuller, Frank
Möbus, Reggie Moore, Rudi Mahall, Zam Johnson, Felix Wahnshuffle,
Jan von Klewitz, Mesut Ali, etc.